


Stark Expo As Usual

by littlesolo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2018-11-19 14:53:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11315727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesolo/pseuds/littlesolo
Summary: hmmmmm. maybe they're on a protection detail? bodyguards for somebody famous or infamous or in danger? trying to transport them covertly through a crowded area?Pepper is a target at an Expo  + that Supercorp crossover idea of ours





	1. Stark Expo as Usual

**Author's Note:**

  * For [avesnongrata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/avesnongrata/gifts).



This year's Expo is no different from any other.  The convention area is packed with the latest innovations and inventions from around the globe.  There's all manner of life here, from vendors, to the media, to everyday people with their kids.  It's a regular Stark event with all the razzle dazzle and fireworks that entails.  

As the ever professional CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts tries to make a stop at each vendor's stall and see every demonstration in search of new talent or chance of collaboration.  As herself, well, the little girl inside her goes nearly giddy with all the free swag that's given out at these things.  It's like a tech Christmas.  From tablets to t shirts and trinkets, it's all given away.  

To date however, Stark Industries has never been without some sort of threat on it, and well, as much as she loves Happy Hogan, she wants somebody else when it comes to her personal security.  That's where Maria and Natasha come in.  Maria had been put in charge of overall security and had spent weeks plotting out the arena and setting up teams at checkpoints to work both basic security (ie lost children and small theft) and high security (wide detail for Pepper and in case of large threats such as AIM or HYDRA).  Natasha works as Pepper's personal detail as she goes around to boothes.  

So far, she has five t shirts, seven fidget spinners, three tablets, four fidget cubes, and eight key lanyards and it wasn't even lunchtime yet.  Useful stuff this was.  To most people it was just desk junk but it kept the likes of Clint and Nat and others who dropped by her office, it kept their fingers occupied.  Kept them from fiddling with anything and everything and breaking things.  She's replaced that frame that holds the photo of her parents about eight times now...  

Pepper settles down into a seat readying herself for yet another presentation when there's a sigh to the left of her.  

"This is the last one before we grab something to eat" assures Pepper to a bored Natasha.  She'd grown tired of seeing the vendors stumble all over themselves to impress Pepper.  Her batons could fix that, but Pepper had said no.  Pepper and her big heart.  All these people approaching Pepper with strange inventions had made her wary at first.  Overeager scientists and engineers shoving their prized projects in front of the CEO.  Now, eighty-three hundred displays later, she simply finds it annoying.  

"So who are we watching now?" asks Natasha.  

"L-Corp's Lena Luthor" answers Pepper.  

"Why does that sound familiar?"  

"It used to be Luthor Corp."  

"Ah.  They used to cause all sorts of trouble.  Or at least the means for trouble..."  Pepper gives Natasha a side look but Natasha merely shrugs.  "There are conventions for weapons and those things too."  

"But it's not like that anymore" says a voice to Pepper's right.  The two turn to see a young blonde woman in glasses sitting there.  

"And who are you?" asks Pepper kindly as Natasha raises an eyebrow at her.  The young woman doesn't exactly flinch under Natasha's gaze but she does readjust her glasses, as if she can sense that Natasha knows they're just for show.  

"Kara Danvers, reporter with CATCO magazine from National City-"

"Oh great, another reporter" grumbles Natasha as Pepper shakes her hand.  

"It doesn't hurt to have a good relationship with the media.  Even just one reporter."  

"We don't need reporters, we've got Darcy for all our tweets and necessary coverage."  

"Hush.  Pleasure to meet you Kara.  What can you tell me about L-Corp?" asks Pepper as she waves away Natasha's grumblings.  

"Well, Lena is the CEO but also an engineer and programmer.  She's rebranded the company as one of cooperation and community" explains an eager Kara.  

"You two sound close" says Pepper with a smile.  

"Sounds like competition, Pep" says Natasha with her head tilted back on the chair.  She doesn't miss the blush on Kara's face though.  Kara turns to look towards the podium where Lena is getting ready to speak before answering.  

"We're-"

Whatever response the reporter was going to give was cut off by the sound of an explosion.  

"We're leaving.  NOW!" says Natasha grabbing Pepper's bag with one hand and dragging her towards a doorway with the other.  Neither takes note of the reporter escorting the other CEO to safety as well.  

All of a sudden the masses of people become a mob and all manner of chaos has descended.  There is the sound of distant gunfire and panicked screams.  None of this phases Pepper in the slightest, not after her years with Tony.  However, she understands this would be the perfect opportunity for someone to get at her, or at least that's what Natasha is thinking.  Maria seems to materialize out of nowhere at her shoulder.  

"Don't you have a show to run, Commander?" asks Natasha as they weave through the crowd.  

"They know what they're doing and Chapman has it in hand.  I'm just here to cover your six Nat."  

"Always happy to have you along."  Pepper smiles at the banter, it puts her at ease.  An ease she knows she probably shouldn't feel.  As for being on the move, she'd long ago mastered running in heels.  

She doesn't even see the first attacker.  He comes out of nowhere looking like just another spectator with a lanyard and day pass around his neck.  He doesn't seem remotely out of place with his plain white shirt and black pants, just his gun.  It doesn't even register when she sees it pointed directly at her.  Natasha shoots him with her silenced gun and that doesn't really take either because she tries to help him up as he stumbles into a fall.  It's Maria who tugs her back and then they're on the move again.  

They're weaving again.  Pepper puts it out of her mind that it's just in case there's a sniper.  She can feel the bag of trinkets banging against her knee and it of all things seems to ground her to the moment.  

A second attacker comes at them from behind and Pepper is in awe at how seamlessly Maria and Natasha work together.  Maria pushes Pepper towards Natasha who catches her while Maria spins round and shoots beneath her arm into the attackers gut twice.  Natasha covers from behind and manages one shot in center of his forehead.  Between them, he's dead before he hits the floor.  There are more screams, this time caused by their chaos.  

"The door, just ahead" calls Maria over the noise and Natasha gives a faint nod.  Once through the large metal side door the noise almost immediately cuts out.  

"Where are we?" asks Pepper, switching the hand she's holding the bag with.  

"Utility tunnel.  It'll take us all the way to the car park" explains Maria.  

Pepper takes a long look down the tunnel.  

"Why do I have the feeling this is now more like fish in a barrel?"  

Natasha turns from securing her batons.  

"Did you see something?  Pepper??"  Suddenly Pepper is racking her brain trying to think of anything that day that might have been suspicious.  Every person she's met, every device she's seen.  She shakes her head.  Nothing pops out.  

"Where were you last?  Was it a signal??" asks an alarmed Maria, hurrying them even faster down the tunnel.  

"No, the last people we saw were L-Corp-"  

"But they were outta there as fast as we were...."  

They reach the car and get Pepper in the passenger seat, and Maria is about to pile into the driver's seat when she notices that Natasha has her sights fixed on something and her gun ready.  She spins around, gun ready.  

There behind another black car stands a protective Kara Danvers in front of Lena Luthor.  

"How did you get here?" barks Maria.  


	2. Presentation Interrupted or Greetings From Another CIty

A week away from National City had sounded perfect.  Lena had been planning it for months.  Granted most of that was due to the presentation she'd be giving at the convention, but Kara was always part of the plan.  

It had been at one of their lunches that Lena decided to broach the subject.  

"What would you say to accompanying me on sort of a business getaway?"  

"A business getaway" repeated Kara around a mouthful of sandwich.  

"Yes.  National City would have to do without us for about a week."  Lena mentally crosses her fingers, knowing that Kara would be weighing if the city could go without Supergirl for that long.  

"Hmm.  Where would we be going?"  

"Well, I happen to have passes to Stark Expo since I'm-" starts Lena, but that's as far as she gets.  Kara's eyes widen with excitement and Lena bites her lip to hold back her relieved smile. 

"Stark Expo!  Winn's been trying to get tickets to that forever!  And you're going?  Of course you're going...  I can cover it for CATCO!  Lena Luthor Launches at Stark Expo!"  

Kara is thinking about how Alex had suggested that she take some time off after all the Daxamite drama and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.  She pulled out her phone and immediately sent off a text to Snapper Carr, letting him know she'd be covering the event.  

Lena simply watched on as her favorite reporter rambled to herself under her breath.  The added bonus of this trip being that Lena would get to know Kara better.  The real Kara, the one without the weight of Supergirl on her shoulders.  And on the off chance that something did go wrong, it would be up to the Avengers and not Supergirl.  A true vacation.  

Before the vacation could truly begin though, came two days of business.  Lena had been ready to give her presentation to Pepper Potts (Pepper Potts!) when the explosion occurred.  After everything in National City, she barely even flinches but Kara is at her side in an instant.  Lena spots two armored drones and remembers the gun in her purse, but it stays there as they edge their way through the crowd, her hand tightly in Kara's.  Lena tugs her hand, pulling them to a stop and motions upwards to the ducts and utility lighting that run above.  They follow them to a maintenance door that leads them down a tunnel to the car park.  

Lena has her keys out and is ready to open her door when she freezes.  The Black Widow is pointing a gun her from next to an SUV.  A tall brunette is helping someone inside the vehicle but spins round when she notices the Widow's stance.  Lena watches her piercing blue eyes flicker between her and Kara.  Lena slowly closes her hand around her gun as Kara steps protectively in front of her.  

"How did you get here?" barks the brunette.  

Kara is about to answer when the metal doors leading back to the arena burst open to reveal two more shooters.  The Avenger and the woman next to her have them down before they can fire off a shot.  Or tell who they were aiming for.  However, it's Kara's extra abilities that pick up a thrum sound of something coming  down the hallway still.  Knowing that Lena is right behind her, she deliberates for half a second as the armored drones appear but as they gear up to fire with a whir, she blasts them with her laser vision.  Or blasts one with her vision.  The other is shot down by the other two women as well as Lena.  She turns to see that Lena still has her gun raised.  

"I knew you sensed something" answers Lena before Kara can ask.  

"Great.  Just what this town needs.  Another superhero" groans Natasha.  

"Discuss later.  You two are coming with us" says Maria gesturing towards the back seats with Pepper.  

* * *

Natasha drives while Maria calls and checks in on her men back at the arena.  

"So why are we bringing them along?" asks Nat.  

"Until we know who the attack was focused on, we protect them both.  I have a feeling a CEO traveling with her own superhero can't just be a coincidence.  So until we have answers, we protect both" answers Maria.  

Pepper looks over at her two guests.  The young reporter seems a bit shaken but brunette simply gazes out the window.  What catches her eye though is how the two are still holding hands.  

"What erm, what was your presentation on?" asks Pepper.  Kara gives Lena's hand a reassuring squeeze.  Shop talk is something Lena can do in her sleep.  Lena shakes herself free from her thoughts and meets Kara's worried but encouraging gaze.  

"Um.. So far we're calling it Nanovex.  They are magnetically responsive nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery to tumor cells.  That's just one of the things we're working on at L-Corp..."  

Kara lets her mind wander as the two CEOs talk about what they know.   _How long had Lena known?_  Long enough to pick up on when Kara sensed things obviously.  Thinking back she can only think of two instances where she had used her powers in Lena's presence as Kara.  When she had first visited with Clark, and when Lena had showed her the alien detection device.  She and Lena needed to have a discussion about this and soon.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely happy with this chapter but I know where I think I know where I'm going with it.  
> Thoughts????


	3. Secret Organizations, Secret Identities, and Secret Information

“What makes you think the attack was focused on us?” asks Kara from the backseat as Natasha continues to drive.  Maria turns in her seat to look at Kara and Lena better.  

“Well, National City may have all sorts of it’s own drama but this is most likely the work of AIM.”  

“AIM?” asks Kara.  Lena puts a hand up and leans forward.  

“Wait, so you all know about- You knew about the Daxamites?” asks Lena indignantly.  

“An alien invasion is the sort of thing SHIELD was made to handle-” starts Maria.  

“So why weren’t you there?” asks Lena as she crosses her arms.  

“Because we were in a manner of speaking.  The Department of Extra-Normal Operations is a division of SHIELD.”  

“I’m sorry, SHIELD??” asks Kara, looking between Maria and Pepper.  

“Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division” explains Pepper gently.  

“Yes” continues Maria, “Anyway, they had the situation handled.  Or rather the two of you did, from what I hear.  Anyway, we had our hands full with something in the South West region at the time.  How is J’onn these days?”  

Kara’s head is spinning with acronyms and information.  

When they finally pull to a stop at the SI offices, Pepper gets out first but Kara can feel Natasha’s eyes on her.  

“What?” she says, slamming the door a bit too hard.  Natasha rolls her eyes.  

“Such a simplistic disguise.  You.  And Steve, for that matter.”  Nat shakes her head.  “A least he wears a hat.”  

“So if we aren’t the probable targets, we’re in your custody why?” asks Lena of Maria.  

“You’re my guests.  At least for the time being” amends Pepper.  That seems to sooth Lena, along with a squeeze of Kara’s hand, notes Natasha.  She exchanges a glance with Maria but she’s already on the phone again.  

“I’ll call J’onn and let him know that the two of you are safe” announces Maria, “Pepper if you could set them up in quarters?”  Pepper nods and escorts them away.  

“You should call your sister and let her know you’re safe” says Lena quietly as they follow Pepper.  

“We’ll collect your things from your hotel later” explains Pepper as she shows them to their door.  

* * *

 

Once Pepper leaves, they have a chance to talk.  Kara lets her hair down out of it’s ponytail so that she can run her fingers through it in frustration.  Her glasses are taken off and land on the small kitchen table.  

“Lena, how long- How long have you known about me?”  

Lena lets out a chuckle as she wanders around the room.  There are two bedrooms, one on each side, joined by a common area and small kitchen in the middle.  

“Kara, my brother had a well known feud with Superman that drove him mad and the very first time I met you, you walked into my office with Clark Kent.”  

“So you knew from way back then?”  

“I suspected.  My alien device was a test of sorts, but yes I guess I’ve always known.”  Now Lena is standing directly in front of her.  She brings up her hand and gently rubs a couple of fingers against Kara’s small eyebrow scar.  “And then there are little things, like this scar… and your smile” she says as she lets her fingers linger for a moment and then edge on down Kara’s cheek.  She can feel Kara’s warm blush beneath her fingers and her breathing speed up.  “Don’t worry.  Your secret is safe.”  

With that Lena turns and walks into her room, saying “calling your sister” once more over her shoulder before she shuts the door.  

* * *

Kara shakes herself out of her stupor and brings a hand up to her face where she can still feel Lena’s touch.  While the conversation had cleared up her main concern, it had brought up the other matter on her mind.  Her relationship with Lena had been something she’d wanted to explore during this trip but aside from a few floundering conversations with Alex and Maggie, she has no idea how to go about it.  

Kara walks over to the bed and sprawls across the bed as she pulls her phone from her pocket.  

“Alex?”  

“Hey you!  I was beginning to worry that you two had gotten trampled to death in all the commotion!  You guys alright?”  

“Yeah, yeah.  We’re fine.  Lena told me to call you earlier.  Sorry.”  

“What’s up?  You sound off” says Alex, and Kara can picture her propping her phone against her shoulder with her cheek.  

“Lena knows that I’m Supergirl” blurts out Kara and she winces at the way it just pops out.  

“Well, you planned to tell her, didn’t you?” asks Alex.  

“Yes but I didn’t have to.  Alex, she’s known since the beginning.”  

“So does it really change anything?”  

Kara didn’t know.  It felt like it did, but did it really? 

* * *

"You know, I know I asked for a light detail during the convention, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind.  Luggage detail is more Clint's thing or something for the Romanoff kids" says Natasha over the phone.  She's on her way to the hotel next to the convention center and Maria wants her to check into see how things are going with the clean up.  

"I know, I know, and they probably aren't carrying anything that's worth stealing but we want to go through everything they know in case AIM gets their hands on it" answers Maria.  

As Natasha enters the convention center she waves over one of Maria's guys and Slivko comes trotting over.  

"How do things look, kid?"  

"Looks like classic AIM attack but they had some outside help Ma'am" answers the youngest member of Maria's core team.  

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Ma'am?"  

"Yes Sir" amends Slivko with a salute as he hands over Lena and Kara's things that had been left at the podium.  Natasha chuckles as she surveys the area.  

There's a large hole where the armored vehicle had crashed through.  Armored meant guns which meant headaches for the teams Maria had in place.  Trying to control shooters amongst large crowds, masses of people that would turn into panicked mobs, meant quick containment.  AIM had attacked in full body armor and AR-15s but they knew exactly what they had been searching for.  Which meant they were now playing catch up and Maria hated being a step behind.  

Natasha then makes her way over to the hotel.  She's going down the hallway when she realizes the door to Lena and Kara's room is already open.  

"I need back up in room 218" calls Natasha over comms before rushing in.  She rushes the figure and tackles him around the waist.  They both go down hard.  She reaches up and jabs him with her taser bracelet but it has no effect.  That's when she notices the cybernetic eye.  Just in time too since she's just pushing away as his heat vision nicks her forearm.  He grabs at her shoulder and she struggles against it, punching at his arm and hand.  When that has no effect she tries her bracelet again, right under his chin.  

"It'll take more than that to stop me" he growls before throwing her at the window.  The window shatters but Natasha manages a handhold and pulls herself back in.  

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!! DON'T MOVE!!" shouts the leader of the STRIKE team.  Finally.  The figure reaches for something on the floor but Natasha kicks it under the bed as the STRIKE team open fire.  The gunfire forces him back and he jumps out the window.  Natasha listens to the retreating feet.  

"You alright Ma'am?" asks Cole.  

"I'm fine.  Where is he?"  

"We've lost him Ma'am."  

Shit.  Natasha reaches under the bed for whatever he'd been reaching for.  A tablet.  A L-Corp tablet.  Just what was on that thing?

 


	4. Cyborgs Mean Business

Natasha gets back to find Maria in her SI office.  

“When’s the last time you saw a cyborg?” asks Natasha as she collapses into a chair across from Maria’s desk.  Maria is around and at her side in an instant, taking in her shoulder and bleeding arm.  

“I can’t tell if you’re making a joke about Tony or Vision.  Give me more specifics” says Maria as she carefully rolls up Natasha’s sleeve to examine what looks like a mixture of a burn and a cut.  “How did this happen?”  

“I told you, a cyborg.  One hunting our newest guests I might add.  Or at least something on their tablet” remarks Natasha as she sets the device on the desk. 

“Okay, let’s get you down to medical-”

“Maria I’m fine.  I’ll snag a sling later.  Let’s just get them up here and see what they know.”  Maria gives her a long look before kissing her forehead.  

“He was a big one, huh?”  

“An enhanced is putting it lightly.”  

* * *

Pepper rouses Kara and Lena from their room and brings them to one of the board rooms.  

“What do you know about a six foot tall cyborg” asks Natasha with a groan.  

“Hank Henshaw?  Cyborg Superman is here?” clarifies Kara.  

“Great, that means Mother’s lurking close behind too” sighs Lena as she slumps in her chair.  Natasha pushes the tablet she recovered towards Lena.  

“I trust you have that with you most times but do you have any idea what they might have wanted with it?” asks Maria.  

“No.  I mean aside from my presentation on Nanovex, it just has a bunch of things that are still in development stages…  I can go through and double check but…” says Lena as she brings the tablet towards her.  

“I’m doing the same.  We can do it together and see if there is any overlap or anything that would work together but it would help if we knew what exactly CADMUS does” says Pepper.  

“CADMUS is my Mother’s organization, it used to be a government one, that is now known for experimenting on aliens" starts Lena.  

"Genetic engineering is their thing really, but it’s not limited to that since they’re the ones who enhanced Hank Henshaw” explains Kara.  

“Wonderful.  Teamed up with AIM, we have our work cut out for us” mutters Natasha as she tries to situate herself comfortably in the chair.  

“What is AIM exactly?” asks Kara.  

“Advanced Idea Mechanics.  It too was once governmentally funded scientific research and development agency.  You could say it’s our brand of CADMUS, I guess” explains an exasperated Maria.  “Okay, you and Pepper go over your projects and developments and Kara you suit up.”  

“What do you need me to do?” asks Kara, ready and already setting her glasses aside.  

“Nothing yet.  You go work out with the Twins for a bit and let's see what you can do.  I know you’re capable in National City, but that’s on your own.  I want an idea of how I can use you here before I put you in the field” says Maria as she gets up.  

* * *

 It's nearly two hours later, but Pepper and Lena finally discover what they were after and it makes the whole situation a whole lot messier than it already is.  

 

"What do you mean it's not even your invention?" asks Maria.  

"It was Jack's, Jack Spheer's.  He was my old- it doesn't matter.  He had this project called Biomax that would help heal wounds among other things.  In his demonstration the nanobots cauterized and mended an open wound on his hand.  The only problem is that the nanobots would rob the test subjects of their free will.  Look I have all his data on my tablet and that's what they must have been after."  

"But if they couldn't stabilize it wouldn't be of much use" comments Maria.  

"Unless you want an army under your control..." adds Natasha.   

"Yes well when you combined it with Pepper's..." starts Lena.  Pepper is looking at her tablet in despair.  

 "We didn't put anything like this out on the convention floor.  So there's that but we are dealing with developing cell regeneration that we discovered from..."  

 "From what?" asks Maria, tired of waiting.  She's tired of feeling a step behind and if they can get one step closer...

 "The Extremis.  We think they're trying to combined the two."  

 "Fucking hell" growls Maria.  

 


	5. Abducted For the Good of CADMUS

He's going to be late.  No matter how fast he power walks, Charlie Roth knows he can't make it to his SI internship on time.  Adjusting the strap on his messenger bag, he's about to increase his stride when a hand  grabs his shoulder and wrenches him backwards.  That's enough to send him stumbling when a blow clips the side of his head.  It sends him sprawling to the ground.  His cheek is against the pavement when a large van skids up alongside him, blocking him from anyone else's view. 

Charlie's trying to sort  out if he tripped or was attacked when he's lifted off the ground and thrown into the van.  His brain is still playing catch up and processing the thought to scream when tape is slapped across his mouth.  His messenger bag is pulled from him and thrown towards the back of the van.  Charlie does his best to kick out but all that does is annoy his captor who then yanks at his ankles and proceeds to bind them and his knees with more tape.  Finished, he tosses Charlie effortlessly backwards towards the rear of the van.  It's only then that Charlie realizes he's not the only captive.  There's another boy similarly bound by his feet.  

They drive around for a bit and despite his best efforts to break free, all Charlie achieves is chafing his wrists from trying to loosen his bindings.  He witnesses the kidnapping of another boy.  He and the other bound boy do their best to scream warning and it's enough to get the other kid running, but he's taken just as easily.  He managed to get his phone out but that's all before it's knocked from his hand.  Then the kid is tossed in and taped up just like the rest of them.  Only then does Charlie get a good look at their captor.  The hood covers most of his face, but his cybernetic eye glows in the shadows.  Charlie's screams are drowned out by the tape and by the door being slammed shut.  

* * *

 Sharon's just wrapping up a scene when her phone rings.  

"Agent 13, we have a distress beacon activated in your vicinity.  If you could investigate and report back..."

"Yeah, I got it" acknowledges Sharon with a sigh.  She's dead on her feet, but a distress beacon going off is a rare occurrence.  

Honing in on the phone's signal, Sharon drives to where it was last emitting from.  The signal is still there, but it's faint.  Parking she surveys the area.  There's no obvious signs of struggle, nothing glaringly out of place, and it's only on her third pass that she finds the cell phone shoved in the sewer grate.  Someone had tried to stomp it through, but had only managed to get it halfway.  Pulling it free, Sharon sees the decoy GPS app activated, also known as the SHIELD distress beacon.  Hunched over the grate, she takes a closer look at her surroundings and notes skid marks and transfer where a vehicle had been sideswiped.  

"Control, I need a team out here.  This looks to be the scene of a confirmed kidnapping.  Have there been any other reports of beacons going off?"  

"None in your area."  She rolls her eyes.  

"Do a gifted wide search" orders Sharon over comms.  She can't help the uneasy feeling in her stomach.  

“There are reports of two other beacons going off.  We are however unable to raise a signal on six other devices.”  

“Could the phones simply be turned off?” asks Sharon.  She mentally crosses her fingers and hopes that’s all it is.  Six lazy kids that either have their phones off or didn’t charge them.  Except Command’s response is immediate.  

“No.  We can turn them on remotely and they are made to always hold enough charge to support the beacon.”  

Shit.  

“Get me Maria HIll.”  

* * *

Kara is flexing her muscles with the Romanoff twins in a training room.  Wanda throws burst of energy at her or walls of energy at her and Kara finds a rhythm to it, but Pietro runs rings around her and plays with her cape.  His favorite thing to do is to boop her nose and it makes her laugh but also drives her up the wall because no matter how many times she freezes his feet or hits him, she never sees it coming.  Between the two, they keep her on her toes.  

Everything comes to a stop though, when Maria enters.  

“We have a problem.  Things are moving forward faster than we expected-”  

“With CADMUS?  Does Lena know?” asks Kara.  The last thing she wants is for Lena to be left out of the loop when it’s likely that she’s a target.  

“Natasha’s bringing her down now…”  The doors the training room open to reveal Natasha, Pepper, and Lena.  “We have gifteds being abducted.  According to our records the ones taken show heightened levels of durability and stamina.  So far we have nine missing.”  

 

* * *

 

The brown paneled van comes to a stop at the edge of the shipping containers near the docks.  The cyborg hops out as two others open the doors to one of the shipping container already fitted as a cell.  Opening the back door of the van, Charlie tumbles backwards and out onto the ground.  The cyborg hefts him up in one arm and carries him to the cells while others grab the two remaining boys.  Once they are in their cells, they are cut free of their wrist bonds.  

“I trust we got everything we need” comes a voice, a female voice.  Charlie turns his head to see the cyborg talking with a tall woman.  

“All three boys meet the criteria and we now have the Stark intern’s access through his laptop.  We should be able to gain entry to the files we need through him.  That brings our test subjects total up to nine.”  

“Good.  Then begin the trials in sets of three.”

* * *

The shipping container is then shut but the inside is illuminated by led lamps hung around the corners.  Charlie first rips the tape from his mouth and then gets to work on his legs.  

“Hey.  You guys okay?  I’m Charlie” he says as he looks towards the other boys. 

“Patrick.”

“Fox.”  

“Fox, did you manage anything on your phone?” asks Charlie hopefully.  

“I sent out a distress signal, but he smashed my phone.  What about you guys?  What happened to your phones?” asks Fox.  

“Mine is at my apartment” says Patrick as he struggles out of the last of his tape.  

“What did she mean by trials?” asks Charlie.  

* * *

“What do we know so far?” asks Maria.  

“Well the boy that was kidnapped is named Fox McHenry.  He’s a short order cook at a local diner.  However when you look at his abilities, he’s scores high in terms of agility and speed.  The other beacons were for an Amelia Robbins and Jake Bohm.  Both score high in the telepathy scale.  That leaves six unaccounted for” explains Sharon.  

“One of the unaccounted for is an SI intern” mentions Pepper.  

“Does that matter?” asks Lena.  

“Only if they try to gain access to our systems through him.  Could that be it?  Test subjects?”  

“Wouldn’t your Mother focus on aliens though” asks Kara turning towards Lena. 

“No.  She’d view gifteds the same way.  She'd use them as a means to an end.  They’d be her perfect test subjects” says Lena as she massages her temples.  “She’s taken them.”


	6. Experimentations and Interrogations

Lillian watches as they bring out the second test subject.  A boy by the name of Fox, but that hardly matters to her.  It’s his agility and speed that concern her.  The boy is about the same age as Lena and Lillian finds it revolting.  That this creature could have been allowed to survive this long.  However, he could be useful.  If the Daxamite invasion had shown her nothing else, it was that aliens could come in many forms and she would need all at her disposal to get rid of them.  

The boy squirms and fights but it’s useless against the cyborg’s grip and then the restraints that hold him to the table.  She hates going through all these trials.  If they had Lena here it would be so much simpler, but her daughter’s cooperation wasn’t something they were going to get.  

They’d had to fashion the extremis element after an arc reactor seeing as how that was the most well known and most stable in terms of containment.  The first priority will be the message to Pepper Potts.  She’s the only one who knows the elements of extremis better than they do.  She’s had personal experience with it, or so her informant tells her.  

She watches as the device is placed on the boy’s chest.  The boy’s eyes nearly crossed as he watches it lowered down.  The round reactor is encased with the nanobots which are cool as they spread across his chest.  The reactor seems to sink right between his collarbones with unbelieveable heat.  She can see how his body heats up as the extremis flows through him, causing him to sweat.  He’s screaming as the nano bots sink in and fight for control but that’s easily drowned out by her humming.  

She hums that piece that she’d seen when she’d stalked Pepper Potts to the opera two months ago.  Yes this was a long time in planning.  Who was it they’d seen?  Oh yes, Emily Klassen.  Ah.  Now the boy was settling down again.  Lillian looks over at the scientist behind the laptop who shakes her head at her.  Frowning, Lillian walks over.  

“What is it?”  

“Perhaps we did it too fast?  His readings just keep going higher and higher.  He’s too unstable.”  

“We don’t need him to go far.  He’s just a delivery.”  The tech is pointing out heat spikes that are monitored through the nano bots when the boy starts to scream.  The screaming is abruptly cut short as he begins to convulse.  The boy’s restraints are melted as the extremis warms and then burns at it’s full capacity.  He holds his hands to his face, trying to control what’s happening to him.  

“Override his commands.  We want to see how far we can go, how much control we have.  Get him lying back down.  If we increase the number of nano bots maybe it will calm down the body’s response to the extremis.”  They’ve got a long night ahead of them.  Lillian resumes humming.  

* * *

Natasha oversees the group looking at gifted files while Maria talks to Lena about her Mother in another room.  Kara has been trying her best to focus but she’s been on the same file and reread the same paragraph eight times so far.  She keeps looking over at the room Maria and Lena are in.  

“She’s not going to hurt her, you know” says Natasha with a raised eyebrow.  Kara blushes.  

“I know.  It’s just that her Mother is a sensitive subject.  She’s been kidnapped by her before.  They started to repair their relationship a bit with the whole Daxamite invasion, but it’s a rocky road and this whole thing doesn’t help” explains Kara with a shrug.  Pepper gives her a sympathetic glance.  

“It’s just a chat though, not an interrogation” assure Natasha.  “Whose file do you have?”  

“Um… Ann Gallagher.  She’s….she’s ….  sorry, give me a minute…..  She’s a recent college graduate.  No job.  It looks like they’re taking people that no one would notice are missing.”  Kara’s so tired of looking at words.  Normally words are her thing and she can use them to fight in her articles, but here she just feels hopelessly out of her depth.  

Lena returns with Maria close behind her.  

“I have to go update Nick on what’s going on.  He’s been dealing with a problem in the South Pacific and the last thing he needs is another thing on his mind, but he needs to know before this thing goes nationwide or even global.  Kara, brief Wanda and Pietro on what worked when facing off against the nano bots before.”  

“That’s just it.  Nothing really did.  It was all Lena at a the computer that saved me” explains Kara as she meets Lena’s eyes.  

“Great.  Well then tell them how you stalled.  They’ll update you on the extremis.  It’ll take more than just your super breath to combat it.”  And with that Maria is gone.  

* * *

Lena avoids the table and Kara as she goes off to train with the Twins some more.  Natasha trades a look with Pepper and looks over towards the young CEO.  

“Lena, can I get you anything?” asks Pepper.  The young woman has her hair down and is dressed in a simple button up and jeans but seems off somehow.  

“You know, the presentation meant so much to me because I wanted to follow your example” starts Lena as she rubs her arms uncomfortably.  “I know it wasn’t all you, that Tony Stark plays a role as well, but you helped turn Stark Industries from a weapons making company to one of the pioneering companies in green technology as well as cutting edge.  All I wanted to do was rebrand L-Corp and erase what it had been, the twisted company devoted to hunting and killing Superman, and turn it towards something good.”  Pepper gets up from where she’s propped herself against the table.  

“I’ve looked into L-Corp and you are changing things.”  

“Not quickly enough.  Not with my Mother still using me to turn out weapons.”  

“It doesn’t cancel out the good you’ve done so far.  Change takes time.  When we first met the Twins they wanted revenge for one of Tony’s missiles destroying their home- their lives when they were young.  But like I said, things change.  People see that change.  People know that it was you who helped Supergirl on multiple occasions.  That counts for something.”  Lena seems to concede this and sits back down.  

“It all counts for something.  Especially to those who believe in you” says Natasha leaning back in her chair.  Lena blushes at that.  

“What.”  

“What?” asks Lena feigning innocence.  

“Your blush is about as red as Stark’s armor.”  

“I just remembered that I happened to send Kara a room full of flowers when she said she believed in me.”  Natasha smirks.  “And I may have called her my hero.”  

“Well that’s just adorable” says Pepper.  


	7. A CADMUS Delivery

After a night’s rest, they’re back at it early the next morning except instead of taking them back to the file filled boardroom, Pepper drives them to an off site lab.  

“What- ah what are we doing?” asks Kara as she follows Pepper and Lena into a large white room with a table and monitors on the walls.  

“If we’re going to get in front of this nano bot thing, we need to come at it another way.  The only way I see to do that is by recreating them in a safe environment.  This is one of the places where Tony tests out his creations, so it should be secure enough, not to mention out of the way of prying eyes” explains Pepper as she turns on the holo table.  

“All of this is at our disposal?” asks Lena as she sets her tablet on the holo table.  Immediately, all her files were cascading across the table top.  She quickly selects Jack’s progress files.  Each video then hovered separately in mid air, waiting to be played.  She then turns towards Kara and Pepper.  “We’re going to need a few things.”  

* * *

Pepper isn’t the only one shifting gears.  Natasha has moved on from the gifted files and onto the CADMUS files sent over by Alex Danvers.  

“What exactly are you hoping to find?” asks Maria as she sets another cup of coffee in front of Natasha.  

“Familiar faces.  Chemists and weapons manufacturers.  That’s the sort of thing I suspect Stark went to back in the day.  I spot Ulysses Klaue here and so I’m hoping we’ve gotten to her before she’s met with him and scored anything truly horrible.  Mostly, she’s been raiding what’s left of Spheerical Industries in search of more on the nano bots but it looks like Lena did a thorough wipe of their systems.”  

“I’ll look into Klaue, we’ve been keeping tabs on him since Ultron.  Pepper give you anything yesterday?”  

“Just that one of the gifteds is an intern here.  We’re looking into any possible connection.  Sharon’s at his place looking for signs of anything.  

“What would be in some twenty year old’s apartment?”  

“Honestly, I’m not hoping for much.  Most likely tapped phone or surveillance on his place.  They targeted Pepper for a reason but I doubt he’s the link.  But I’d rather know what they could have gotten off him now rather than later.”  

* * *

Finding the Vulture’s cohorts proves easy enough.  Lillian had been keeping tabs on him and been rubbing elbows with him.  What good is a family fortune if there’s nothing good to spend it on?  “Shocker”, the nitwit, nearly blasts them all to oblivion with his demonstration, but he has exactly what they need and they walk away with a dozen arc reactors from retired Iron Legion robots.  Then it’s just a lengthy process of merging the extremis to the reactors.  They’re highly unstable, but the nano bots hold them together just well enough for now.  Well enough for their prototype to be delivered.  

* * *

Returning to the SI offices, Pepper sees a young man waiting in the lobby with his arms crossed across his chest and rocking back and forth.  She slowly approaches the visitor, noticing that beneath his hoodie, he seems to be sweating profusely.  She’s so caught up with the visitor, she fails to notice the presence of a hooded figure entering behind Kara and Lena.  Wanda and Pietro trudge slowly behind, reporting in to Maria.  

“Sir, is there something I can help you with?” asks Pepper as she reaches out to touch him.  

“A message….” stammers Fox, his head twitching involuntarily.  

“I’m sorry?”  

“I have a message for Pepper Potts from CADMUS….” says Fox as he slowly takes off his jacket to reveal an arc reactor sunken into his chest.  Around it is a mercurial like substance that moves in and out with each breath he takes.  She watches as it spreads out, like wires, and travels down his arms towards his hands that are clasping hers.  Quickly she tries to jerk away, but he holds fast, and it takes her foot on his knee to wrench herself free.  The whole time this happens the arc reactor glows brighter and brighter, and Pepper can tell that it’s bound to explode.  

“Pepper!?” calls Kara, running over, already sensing something wrong.  

“I need…!  I need a tool kit and first aid kit! Now!!” shouts Pepper, because she can fix this, but it’s too late for that and Kara can see it.  The extremis is beginning to melt down the reactor and turning into a lava like substance as the extremis heats up through Fox’s viens.  He gasps in pain and the cords in his neck seem to glow with the exertion.  

“Get back!” yells Kara, getting Wanda’s attention as she drags Pepper backwards.  When he explodes, the explosion goes horizontally, blocked by a wall from Wanda but also by Kara bending over Pepper to protect her from the blast.  There’s little left of the boy except a pair of shoes.  Pepper is sobbing looking at the spot the boy had been sitting and Kara is trying to process what just happened when there’s a scream.  The hooded figure had an arm around Lena’s waist and is trying to drag her out of the building.  Her arms are still around Pepper when there’s a blur of motion that surrounds the hooded figure and suddenly Pietro is setting Lena down, bridal style, and then Pietro becomes a blur again and is knocking the hooded figure through a plate glass window.  

“Everyone back, now!” shouts Wanda, as she and Pietro go out to make sure everything is taken care of.  Pepper is done crying, although tears still trickled down her face.  Now she is simply enraged and turns towards Lena.  Kara is just about to interject that Lena had nothing to do with the attack, when Pepper growls it out.  

“They used an arc reactor to do this.”  

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I saw Spiderman Homecoming and that was what I was referencing. Go see it.


	8. Drafting Concerns

It’s near two in the morning, and Maria and Natasha have been summoned, but Kara is no closer to understanding what just happened.  Pepper, however, despite still being covered in ash and gray matter, is pouring through digital files in the boardroom.  Lena is having Kara very carefully describe to her what the device looked like as she does her best to sketch out a rendering.  

“I don’t know Lena, it happened so fast and it was sort of melting…”  

“Yes, but you remember what the nano bots looked like from before, what were they doing here?” asks Lena as she sketches on one of the SI tablets.  

“It doesn’t make any sense!  He should have regenerated…” mutters Pepper under her breath.  

“What do you mean?” asks Natasha, doing her best to keep up with the number of files zooming by as Pepper searches out a certain one.  

“The extremis is meant to regenerate.  They  _let_  him explode.  He didn’t have to die.  They made him intentionally unstable and turned him into weapon” explains Pepper.  

“A weapon targeting _you_ , Pepper” points out Maria “and _you_ Lena.  I want Wanda and Pietro with all of you at all times.  Especially since we don’t know what they want with Lena.”  

“Probably my help with the nano bots.  But she wouldn’t get it, she has to know that already” scoffs Lena.  “Is it possible that’s why they’re using the nano bots though?”  Pepper is already nodding in agreement.  

“-because they can’t make them stable they had to try something else!” finishes Pepper.  

“But how are they getting access to the materials?  The Department of Damage Control has everything that SHIELD hasn’t already laid claim to, so where are they getting it from?” asks Natasha.  Kara can’t help the yawn the seems to come out of nowhere but it gets everyone’s attention.  

“Sorry” she says with a blush.  

“She makes a good point though, we all need some sleep.  This is not a debate, it’s an order” says Maria, cutting off Pepper’s and Lena’s arguments.  

* * *

Lena does her best, but only manages to toss and turn for a few hours before she’s back in the common area working on a tablet.  Or attempting to work on a tablet.  It’s frustrating to work with due to Tony’s “disco nap” protocol and has her resorting back to sharpies and paper during it’s scheduled break periods.  She could probably get an override from Pepper but that would mean getting up and breaking her chain of thought.  Instead, the tablets are programed to go to sleep in half hour increments, designed to give the user the opportunity for a rest.  In theory it’s a good thing, making sure you get enough rest  is a  _good_ thing, but not right now.  Now, Lena needs to work and this default is fucking with her focus.  

Kara is awakened by the sound of crumpling paper and soft grumbling.  Carefully, she pads out to the common area but soon finds herself tripping over balls of paper.  

“Lena?  Whoa…I uh  I hear you working… Shouldn’t you be sleeping?  What is all this?” asks Kara softly as she steps around crumpled piles of paper and discarded sketches.  

“I can’t sleep while my Mother is turning people into…bombs…”  Lena can barely choke out the word, but her eyes are determined when they cut away from the tablet to Kara.  

“It’s not your fault Lena-”

“You don’t know my Mother as well as I do.  She was probably rummaging for files at L-Corp when Winn and I were building the Daxamite device, but Jack?  She knew how close we- how serious we once were.  And then he dies and I’m tied to his death?  Mother must have known he had something.  And with the way that CADMUS goes searching for talent, there’s no way she missed his presentation.  It was just a matter of how she could get to it.  And she knew it was me” explains Lena, all the while furiously scribbling notes in margins of her notes and diagrams or discarding yet another sketch.  

“But Lena-”

“I can’t stop.  I’ve almost narrowed down the possible frequencies that they could be using in combination with the heat device, but I can still narrow this down…”  

“Lena, stop for a moment–” tries Kara, this time placing a hand on Lena’s shoulder.  But Lena shakes off her arm and then shoves the tablet and pens and papers all away from her before turning to face Kara directly.

“What if something had happened to you!”  

“I’m fine!  I absorbed the blast, or what Wanda didn’t manage to shield in time.  Lena, look at me I’m fine!” says Kara as she places her hands on Lena’s shoulders.    

“You got  _extremely_  lucky!  In the past you absorb  _solar_  energy and are invulnerable to most  _human_  weapons!  But this is a combination of weapons and we don’t even know how the extremis works!” argues Lena angrily.  Kara pulls Lena into a hug and sighs into her hair as she strokes her back.  

“If I’m being honest, I do feel a little drained, but no more than I would after an average fight.  We’re going to figure this out, or more likely, you and Pepper will figure this out.  But we’ll stop your Mother, and she’ll end up in prison.  Either ours or theirs.  But Lena, trust me, right now I’m fine.”  Lena reluctantly nods and lets out a shaky breath.  

“You’re all I have, Kara Danvers.”  Kara presses a kiss to Lena’s forehead and is about to say something when Lena shakes her head clear.  “But right now, I need coffee and Pepper’s help if we’re to narrow this down.”  Kara nods and squeezes Lena’s hand before heading towards the kitchen.  If she’s lucky, she can get some food into her too.  


	9. A Test Battle Royale

Charlie can’t remember feeling this sick before.  He can’t even stand up on his own, so they don’t worry about him as much as the others.  The others.  He hasn’t seen anyone else in sometime.  He hears chatter about some of the extremis not taking with the others.  Well it’s taken with him.  The arc reactor on his chest pumps the hot orange fluid through him.  The cyborg gets two of the staff to lead him back to his cell and it’s the first time he’s felt relieved.  They toss him back into the small cramped area he’d been held in before.  That’s when he notices he’s not the only one there.  Patrick is there in the shadows.  Or at least he thinks it’s Patrick.  Half his face is scarred and the other half is covered by black and blue bruises.  Patrick shivers and scoots further in the corner.  

“They made me fight against some of the others.  To test my abilities.  Could’ve told them I didn’t have anything useful.  I can take it.  Some of the others though…”  That’s when Charlie notices his hand.  There are etchings around the wrist and markings made in pen.  

“What’s that about?” asks Charlie, motioning towards his left hand.  Patrick lifts the hand in question and turns it in front of his face.  

“I think they’re going to take my hand” answers Patrick.  

* * *

Patrick doesn’t have long to consider whether they might take his hand or not.  They do.  They also add to him.  Like Charlie, he’s given an arc reactor but this one goes to power his new hand, the one scavenged from an Ultron sentry.  What completes his new upgrades is an exoskeletal frame made of scrap to protect his new wiring that covers the inside of his arm like a second skin.   Pieces from various suits that had been abandoned.  Arms from the Mark 23 Extreme Heat suit, chest plate from a Mark 36 Riot Control suit, and on and on.  The frame is bolted to him and fused to his bones.  When they toss him in the cell again, Charlie’s ears are raw from hearing Patrick’s screams.  

* * *

Charlie has no idea what’s going on when they fetch him again, the lights that surround the caged area are nearly blinding.  Charlie looks down at his hands, unshackled for the first time in days, but why?  Looking up he sees Patrick, or what resembles Patrick.  Patrick’s frame is now covered in plates from Iron Legion bots and parts from Ultron sentries.  Are these the fights Patrick was talking about?  

Charlie doesn’t understand what’s supposed to be happening now, but apparently Patrick does since he takes the first swing, surprisingly agile despite all the weight on him.  Patrick’s back is a fused mess of arc reactors and wiring to power his new enhancements.  

The first blow hits under Charlie’s chin and he goes flying backwards.  He tries his best to regain his footing but looking in Patrick’s eyes, all he sees is a glazed over look.  Patrick, or rather whatever is inhabiting Patrick, gazes right through him and with it’s arm takes aim and blasts Charlie in the abdomen.  Charlie launches back a few feet and falls again.  Charlie can’t breathe and it feels like his ribs are broken, but then his chest begins to warm.  Not with blood, like he first worried, but like a fire in his chest and belly, and suddenly he can breathe again.  

Patrick is about to go for the killing blow when Charlie puts his hands up to defend himself, grabbing for the arms before they can strike, and he feels his own hands heat up.  He isn’t even aware how he’s doing it, but his hands begin to heat up past the point where it hurts.  It feels like lava and he grips on to Patrick’s armor to prevent the other boy from striking a blow against him.  Patrick begins to scream as his arms heat up past human withstanding.  But as quickly as the damage is sustained, the nanobots swarm down the arm panels and drips down like mercury, repairing everything it touches.  Charlie can’t believe what he’s seeing.  

With a renewed strength, Patrick uses his arm to press down on Charlie’s throat, Charlie’s hands doing their best to block the pressure but he can feel himself weakening.  His breath begins to come in gasps as Patrick leans into his arms to get to Charlie’s neck and Charlie can feel the metal beginning to cut through.  Faintly Charlie hears someone yell “Enough!”  Suddenly, the sheen leaves Patrick’s eyes and he’s himself again, a look of horror on his face, but it’s too late.  Charlie’s hands and chest are already warming to lava like temperatures to defend itself.  His hands regenerate from where they were nearly cut off and his chest bursts with pure energy, throwing Patrick and all his armor backwards.  

Charlie is left panting as his body cools but can’t help but think that he blasted someone defenseless, despite what his actions were moments ago.  The nano bots had released their hold as soon as Lillian had yelled enough.  He watches as Patrick tries to struggle to his feet twice before resorting to crawling across the arena back to his cage where it’s safe for him to collapse.  It would seem the armor had saved his life.  

Charlie on the other hand… feels fine.  He frowns as he takes a mental account of everything and yes, his ribs and everything seem to be fine.  He could breathe without any problem despite having nearly been choked to death and having his ribs smashed.  His hands had also regrown right before his eyes from where they’d nearly been cut off.  He’s more confused now and alarmed now than he had been before the fight had started.  What had they done to him?  To his knowledge, aside from the arc reactor, all they’d done was hook him up to an IV…  What was going on?  What had they done to him?


	10. One or the Other Not Both

After waking Pepper, they wake Natasha, unaware that that meant waking Maria too.  

“Don’t these people know the meaning of sleep?  Or it’s benefits?” grumbles Maria as she rubs at her eyes.  

“Please.  You never miss your mark.  And this is hardly the longest we’ve gone without sleep” points out Natasha.  

“No sleep or new people.  I can do one or the other, not both.  At least not without coffee” answers Maria, only to have Kara present her with a hot cup of black coffee.  With a stretch and crack of her neck, Maria turns to Lena.  “Ok, newbie, what have you got?”  

Well, by analyzing the explosion itself we can see that the nano bots are being powered by the arc reactor.  I think my Mother wants to use the nano bots to control her victims as well as the extremis reactions.  

“Like a killswitch” adds Natasha.  

“Yes, exactly.  Except now when I examine the heat signature from the explosion, I found similar signatures down near the docks.  Pepper can scan the area to make it more exact, but it doesn’t do us any good until I can narrow down what frequencies…” explains Lena.  Pepper smiles and moves over towards Lena with another Stark tablet.  

“That’s where we come in.  Using some of our tech here at SI we’ve scanned the area Lena mentioned and isolated three signals.  These signals match the areas where she tracked the heat signatures to but the bad news is that we can only try them out one by one and it’ll have be a trial by fire in the field to see if we’re effecting the nano bots.”  

“Well, they’re not ideal conditions but nothing we haven’t faced before either” says Maria.  “Alright everyone, suit up.”  Maria then marches out, followed close behind by Natasha, going to prep the STRIKE team and gear up.  Realizing that Lena is packing up gear to take along, Kara shifts from grabbing her cape to taking off after Maria.  

“I don’t want Lena out there, Maria.”  

“That sounds like something you should take up with her.  But she’s an essential part of this team.  She alone defeated the nano bots the first time, if we can get her to a console, maybe we can deprogram those infected without activating the kill switch.  We need her in the field.  I can try to keep her out of the heat of things but you know how well things that are planned go compared to how things go in the field.  But again, this is a conversation you should have with Lena, especially if you’re really worried” says Maria, her voice finishing gently.  

Kara’s about to comment that she’s not sure how.  That Lena means so much and it’s overwhelming and how does one explain that without scaring the other off, when Natasha returns fully geared.  

“No time, we have to move now.  Pepper says there’s another heat signature just went off.  Anyway, Lena’s no idiot, and she’s not deaf either.”  

“No she isn’t” mutters Lena as she walks by, shouldering her bag.  

“Lena… I didn’t mean..”

“Didn’t mean for me to hear?  So I gathered” answers Lena as she loads the truck.  

“I just… I just don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you…” stammers Kara as she runs a hand through her hair.  

“And you don’t think I feel the same way, every time you go out there to save the world?  But I don’t try and stop you Kara!”  

“Yes because I know what I’m up against and am prepared for it!  We don’t know what will happen out there, what else your Mother has up her sleeve.”  

“We have to go guys” announces Pepper as she hefts another bag into the back of the truck.  Kara does a double take.  She had assumed that Pepper was staying behind as well.  Her expression must have said as much.  

“Someone has to deal with the arc reactors” answers Pepper with a shrug.  “I have a feeling you and Natasha will be dealing with an onslaught of an attack of some sort.  Lena and I can deal with whatever innocents we find and try to deprogram them.”  

“What about Maria?” asks Lena.  

“Maria is our backup plan and escape route.  She’s getting there her own way.”  They all pile into the car, with Pepper in the co pilots seat ready to take over when things get hairy.  Natasha motioned with one arm out the window for the STRIKE teams to move forward.  

They were going into battle.  


	11. Trump Cards

Kara’s soaring above the smoke, doing what she can with her super breath.  They were expected, that much is clear.  Smoke bombs had gone off all along the harbour the moment Kara’s red cape had streaked the sky.  The Cyborg had been lying in wait and had overturned the first of the STRIKE team vehicles.  From that point on, everything went off plan.  

The plan.  There had been a plan.  Lena reminds herself of this as Natasha swerves to avoid the chaos, the STRIKE team agents in the first vehicle trying to fight their way out.  The Cyborg heaves the vehicle over his head and tosses it aside as bodies fall away.  Kara zooms down from the skies and strikes the Cyborg in the chest, sending him flying backwards and propelling him into a shipping container.  It’s the last glimpse Lena has of Kara before she rushes off to join the Twins with Pepper.  

Kara’s focus lingers on Lena’s back a moment too long and gives the Cyborg the opportunity to cut himself free of the container and lunge for Kara.  He has her in a headlock until she elbows him in the chest and rolls him over her shoulder and back towards the shipping container’s remains which this time ignite into flames.  Out of the flames emerge reprogrammed Iron Legion bots and Kara has her hands full.  

Lena’s last glance at Kara is brief and all too soon, she’s with Pietro and Wanda, her mind back on focus.  As Wanda does her best to ease the smoke, Pietro does a quick round about to make sure the coast is clear.  Lena glances around and Pepper touches her shoulder to get her attention.  

“We’ll be fine.  The Twins will cover us” assures Pepper.  Lena shakes her head. 

“Somewhere in all this mess is my Mother--”  

“It’s not your fault.  But we’ll fix what we can.  C’mon.”  Now Wanda has the smoke down to a hazy fog.  

“Let’s go” replies Lena with a nod.  

* * *

 

Natasha makes her way carefully between the shipping containers.  She spots Lillian Luthor right away, gesturing and barking out orders.  Typical, but what she’s looking for is the computer console where things are being directed from.  That’s when the hairs on the back of neck perk up.  She moves out of the way just in time to avoid the blast full on, but it catches her right arm enough to singe through her suit.  She turns to see Patrick standing there, with his arm extended, his new mechanical arm hooked up to fine tune his extremis abilities.  Scooting backwards, Natasha draws her gun and fires off three shots and watches in awe as his body seems to simply reject the bullets, pushing them right back out of his skin.  That’s bad.  At least for her.  

Also, it seems to have gathered the attention of Lillian and her scientists, seeing as they have now scattered.  Shit.  

* * *

 

Normally the Black Widow isn’t so careless, but the enhanced arm attachment gives Patrick an exceptionally long range.  But it’s not just his arm that has heated up, but his entire chest.  Lena watches in awe as the lava like form moves forward towards the scooting spy.  Lena aims her rifle carefully and fires.  There’s no explosion or visible damage, but Patrick halts in his tracks.  The modified EMP rifle worked, and Lena thanks god for small favors.  The nano bots are temporarily stalled.  

Pepper and Lena rush forward as Patrick seems to shake himself out of a sleep.  Or at least partially.  He looks down at his forearm in horror as it begins to glow like embers catching flame again.  Then his face goes blank as the nano bots come online again.  Natasha yanks Lena from the line of fire but Pepper is still looking for cover when Kara comes down and uses her laser vision to cut off the arm attachment.  It’s only a temporary setback and hardly a fix.  Now his arm is like a canon.  As Kara floats down to block Pepper, Patricks other arm comes up and grabs Kara by the throat.  Suddenly, the nano bots are swarming, and crawling from Patrick’s fingertips to Kara’s throat and the Kryptonian is struggling to breathe.  Natasha is there then, pulling Patrick’s head back with her arms and using her legs to try and leverage Patrick’s arm in a different direction but it’s no use, the nano bots have him holding firm.  

Pepper and Lena rush forward, Lena firing again and Pepper going straight for the arc reactor in his chest.  This time though, the rifle has no effect and the nano bots continue to climb up Kara’s throat and jaw.  

“Lena-” starts Kara.  

“Shut up Danvers, I’m trying to save your life” answers Lena as she pulls out a modified taser (her own design of course).  Applying the taser directly to the nano bot swarm she electrifies the metallic looking liquid, and tries to put out of her mind Kara’s anguished scream.  She locks eyes with Kara and waits for the electricity to abate.  It causes the nano bots to seize and creep down Kara’s chin and back down towards her jaw a bit.  Centimeters at best but it’s something.  Pepper shakes her head.  

“I need another blast to get this out!” she says, holding the arc reactor half extracted.  Kara does her best to nod.  Lena’s eyes tear, but  she pulls the taser trigger again.  Kara’s screams seem even louder this time and Lena goes to catch her as her body shudders and spasms with the electricity but Natasha shakes her head.  

“You’ll be electrocuted too.  Now focus!  What’ll happen to him without the nano bots?”  

“He won’t be able to reign in his power.  We need to get him down somehow....” thought Pepper aloud.  Quickly, she scrounges around in her pack for something.  “I’ve got a tranquilizer here in my kit, Lena see if you have one too... Okay that should put him out if Wanda can contain his blast for us....”  

“Got it” says the witch, appearing out of nowhere but more than ready to help.  Her red powers surround Patrick’s still lava like bicep, where his arm had been cut off as the lava tries to rebuild the missing limb.  Wanda scrunches up her face in concentration and the lava steadily begins to turn to smoldering embers.  As he begins to cool down, Natasha unwraps herself from around Patrick.  

“That’s one-” the assassin holds a hand up to her ear and nods.  “- according to heat signatures we’ve got at least three more of like him out here.  We have to move fast if we want to nab them safely and still get Lillian.  She’s gotta have an evac plan set up.”  

* * *

 

For the most part Kara watches the assassin’s back.  Pepper and Lena are on their own.  No, she shakes her head, that’s not true, they have the Twins watching over them.  She does her best to get through the Iron Legion bots and what she doesn’t punch, she mows down with her laser vision.  

* * *

 

Charlie is out amongst the chaos just trying to find his way out.  For some reason, his body managed to reject the nano bots, but the extremis was still flowing through him strong.  He did what he could break so of the others free, but he got turned around and was lost now.  Given how his chest felt like it was on fire, maybe that was a good thing, he had no idea how he could contain this much longer.  He’s breathing hard and has his hands around his middle when Lena finds him.  She carefully points her rifle and fires but it does nothing and in Charlie’s anxious state it simply heightens his symptoms.  The veins in his chest begin to glow even brighter and his arms begin to radiate an almost fire like heat.  He stumbles forward, wrapping his arms around himself even tighter.  

“Help me...” he begs.  Lena looks at him in a sort of stunned shock for a moment, watching as the energy builds.  Then she shakes her head clear and looks around the area surrounding her.  Pietro darts out and tries his best to defend Lena, but a blast seems to emanate from Charlie’s entire body and rockets the runner backwards and into a pile of metal barrels.  

Lena had ducked the surge, but sensing another one building up, she does the only thing she can think of to stop another blast.  Jumping up from where she’d hunkered down, she rushes Charlie and in a tackle that would make Alex proud, they both are hurled into the freezing water off the docks.  It seems to do the trick, as Lena watches his core temp drop rapidly, the shock of the cold giving Charlie some control back.  Except the water is absolutely frigid and Lena is getting cold fast, despite the heat still radiating off the boy.  She struggles to get a grip on Charlie’s arm before using her remaining strength to push them back towards the surface.  The energy in Charlie seemed to subside but that’s when they’re struck from above and Lena and Charlie are narrowly missed by a bolt of extremis magma between the two of them.  

Gasping as she reaches the surface, she sees Charlie breach the water seconds later.  There, on the dock stands a girl with her arm outstretched and a blank look on her face and an arc reactor in her chest.  

Kara’s there seconds later, shoving the girl aside and into debris before rushing out to scoop Lena and Charlie out of the water.  They’re both coughing as Kara sets them on the dock.  

“Thank... you...” gasps Charlie.  He’s shivering from the cold but is able to control his extremis now.  Lena isn’t able to manage a reply before arms are scooping her up and she’s facing Kara.  

“What were you thinking?!” asks Kara as her arms rub Lena’s arms up and down.  

“Watch out!” cries Lena as the girl who had fallen reemerges with her arm outstretched and ready to fire, the arc reactor in her chest glowing a familiar blue.  Kara spreads her cape to block the incoming blast expect they never expected the blast coming from the other direction.  Charlie’s magma blast soars right past their heads and strikes the girl square in the chest.  The three of them turn to watch in horror as the girl seems to short circuit, the blow hitting the arc reactor overwhelmed with the amount of energy.  The energy is too much and Kara pushes Lena over towards Charlie and covers them both with her cape just in time as the girl explodes.  

* * *

 

Maria’s going to be pissed, Natasha knows that much.  Not so much about the plan going off book, that much was expected in most Avengers ops.  No, she’ll be pissed about the burns on her arms and legs, not that the spy was crazy about them either.  She should have been more careful, but that would have to come later.  Right now she has eyes on Lillian Luthor again.  Natasha hears light footsteps behind her, but this time she’s ready.  Two enhanced taser discs take care of the first one, her taser batons to the neck take care of the second.  Then she’s face to face with Lillian, gun raised.  

“Turn them off, now” orders Natasha.  Lillian raises her hands slowly but grins.  

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.  Also, I should mention that I have you out gunned.  Literally.  Now I’m leaving on my ship.”  

“I doubt that” says Natasha, not feeling threatened at all by the Cyborg aiming some severe device at her.  

"It was simple to weaponize the extremis.... something Miss Potts would know about had she been interested.  Natasha tenses but only slightly as the gun begins to charge and then fire.  Except Pepper's hand is over the muzzle and a red arc of power is tossing the Cyborg away like trash.  Pepper's red hand seemed to absorb the blast.  That's when all eyes are on her.  

The story was that Pepper got her powers reversed by Tony, but that was far from the truth.  With some tinkering and help from Bruce Banner, they'd made her abilities manageable, figuring that she would need her own kind of protection with the constant threats against her and Stark.  Although, the abilities weren't meant to be showcased often, this situation definitely qualified as an exception.  

Pepper's body absorbed the blast but now had to figure out what to do with it.  Wanda hovers her way down, the Cyborg now forgotten, until a spaceship begins to whirl to life.  It hovers out the area from the shipping containers, the Cyborg at the helm.  That's when Kara comes out and does her best to shove the ship back down to the docks.  

"Kara!  Let it go!" calls Natasha, but Kara shakes her head, she's not letting Lillian get away this time.  What she doesn't expect is for the witch to use her powers against her and forcefully move her back towards the docks.  From there, Pietro has his hands on her shoulders.  Kara watches as Lillian makes her way towards the spaceship and is about to ask what the hell is going on, when the quin jet breaks through the clouds, firing two precise shots, grounding the spaceship.  Pietro gives Natasha a nod.  

"We've got your daughter deprogramming the others now.  It's over Lillian" states Natasha.  

Kara watches in awe.  Part of her knows that Alex would give anything to see this.  The other part of her wants to take Lena in her arms and tell it's over.  It's really over.  The Avengers will take Lillian to secure prison along with the Cyborg. 

It's really over.  


	12. Engineering on Arms

Perhaps calling the event over with was premature, especially since they'd be dealing with the repercussions of Lillian's actions for weeks if not months to come.  Maria has just secured the two prisoners for transport to the Fortress, a submersible facility with cells tailored to the occupant's powers.  There would be no escape for them this time.  

When Natasha makes it to Maria’s side, Maria’s coming down the quin jet walk way, massaging her hand.  

“They give you any trouble?” asks Natasha as she takes Maria’s hand.  Maria shakes her head a bit, just enough to display the beginnings of a shinner.  

“The Cyborg wouldn’t settle down.  Made a last ditch effort to escape.  I got him with an EMP rifle.  It should hold him until they get to the Fortress” says Maria.  Natasha rubs Maria’s knuckles as her other hand comes up to rub Maria’s cheek.  

“Hey, it’s just me” Natasha whispers, knowing that Maria is focusing on the job rather than her injuries.  “What’s wrong?”  Maria sighs.  

“We have three test subjects remaining and the remains of five individuals, charred beyond recognition, and have yet to identify them.  If we take into account the gifteds that Sharon brought to our attention, it’s probably them.  I can’t help feeling like we failed on a monumental level.”  

“We’ll figure this out.  Lena and Pepper are working on deprograming as we speak” soothes Natasha.  She’s just about to say something else when gunfire erupts back down on the docks.  Both women are off and running, guns in hand.  Kara is there blasting back the remaining mangled Iron Legion bots as Lena squats over a laptop about twenty feet away, typing furiously.  The bots that Kara hasn’t taken care of yet are demolished by Pepper with her extremis abilities.  Natasha makes her way over to one of the other laptops and manages to disconnect the link between the bots, the Iron Legion bots suddenly shutting down.  

Once that’s over, Maria lowers her gun, checking over her shoulder for Nat and Lena.  Lena is still hunched over the ground, typing.  

“Lena?  Are you alright?” asks Kara, noticing the graze along Lena’s shoulder.  

“We have to disconnect the nano bots!  Prolonged exposure can be harmful and we won’t be able to disconnect them without causing damage to the subject’s brains.”  

“How far along are you?” asks Pepper and she rushes to another laptop knocked over during the shoot out.  

“I don’t know, they’ve changed things since last time.  The protocols are different…” the rest of Lena’s sentence drifting off as she bites her lip in concentration.  

“Is there another way to do this?” asks Natasha.  “Could they flash burn the nano bots out?”  Maria’s already shaking her head.  

“Too risky.  They  could overheat themselves to a molten level a dangerous degree and then put everyone at risk by exploding.  We have too many people here to risk that” states Maria, but Lena nods absently in agreement.  

“I can put them in a neutral setting I think…. like a digital coma.  I think it will hold them for a bit, but we risk doing them more harm the longer they’re under…” explains Lena, typing desperately to try and stay one step ahead of the code.  

“Do it” orders Maria.  “It buys us time to come up with a solution.”  Lena nods and proceeds to enter the commands.  Natasha and Pepper turn and watch one of the loaded individuals seizes momentarily before getting a glazed look in their eyes.  

“Okay so that buys us time.  Now what?” asks Natasha.  

“Well, I’ve got a few ideas that I can work on with Lena…” starts Pepper.  

“After everyone gets some rest.  I know, I know that this is pressing but we are going on nearly two days without sleep here, and I need everyone’s mind working on this” says Maria.  

* * *

Kara sees to it that Lena’s wounds are tended to and does her best to assure Lena that she’s fine.  Nothing a few hours of sleep and a morning out on Stark’s balcony won’t cure.  Lena accepts this easier than Kara expected but that’s because she’s dead on her feet.  Kara is practically carrying her to bed in an effort to get her to rest.  Kara finds it adorable how Lena murmurs in her sleep and goes to leave after tucking the CEO in, but Lena won’t let go of her arm.  

“Just a few hours” murmurs Lena as she tucks Kara’s arm under her head.  Kara’s too tired to protest so she simply climbs in behind her and wraps her other arm around Lena’s waist.  At some point during the night, Lena startles awake, in an engineering haze, a idea on her mind.  Reaching for the nightstand she’s careful not to wake Kara, but eager to get her idea down, she fumbles for the sharpie near the lamp.  Her body aches for sleep so she needs to get this down on something quick.  She pushes up her sleeve and scrawls a few words on her arm.  She’s just capped the marker when Kara lets out a small whine, pulling at Lena to come back.  Lena turns and gives her a sleepy smile, kissing her forehead, right before collapsing again, dead to the world.  

* * *

It’s the next morning over a breakfast buffet when Pepper asks “Any ideas in the night?”  Lena looks at her stunned for a moment and Pepper tries to backpedal, since she had only been joking.  “I just mean- I had a feeling-.”  Lena however is pushing the sleeves of her college sweatshirt and…. checking her arms for god knows what.  Pepper knows that sometimes Tony will space out and write on anything handy when he goes into engineering mode.  She’s had to replace tables and doors due to that man having an idea and a sharpie in his hand.  She secretly hopes it’s not the same with Lena.  She has no problem with her having a eureka moment, she just hopes that the guest room decor hasn’t suffered for it.  Lena, meanwhile, is still searching for something on her skin.  

“Um… Lena?  You okay?” asks Maria cautiously.  Kara comes down the hallway pulling her shirt into place.  Pepper gives her a raised eyebrow, which makes Kara blush furiously.  Natasha’s gaze darts between the CEO of L-Corp and the reporter and a grin begins to form.  

“Nat… let them be” whispers Maria as she nudges the spy’s shoulder.  

“What fun would that be?  Looking for hickeys Lena?” teases Nat.  Kara goes flaming red at that.  

“What?  We didn’t-” stammers Kara, drawing Lena from her thoughts enough to look a little hurt momentarily until she notices something at Kara’s wrist.  Lena’s across the room in seconds, pushing her Kara’s sleeve.  

“Here it is!” gasps Lena, dragging Kara’s arm forward to show Pepper.  “I thought of it late last night!  Neural economics!  Perhaps we can use that to reverse engineer the pathways the nano bots are taking!”  Pepper comes around and takes Kara’s wrist in hand, curious to see what other notes Lena might have written down.  Natasha can’t help laughing now, as Kara blushes furiously while the CEO’s pour over her exposed skin.  Maria can’t help herself either.  At least they’re on the right track.  


End file.
